Chapter Seventeen
Zeke Coleman
“I won’t let that motherfucker get to Evelina or her daughter, and if that means killing him, I’m going to do it. I’m done waiting for you to play politics. He’s dead!” I shouted at the don of the Rissi crime family.
I shouted at my boss.
But control had completely evaded my body the second I learned what was truly at stake.
I still could not believe that I had a daughter.
A daughter.
I had spent my entire life believing I would never allow myself the opportunity of having children, not when I could one day become like the father who had no problem killing his child. I was never willing to take the risk, knowing who I may one day become.
I never planned on meeting someone like Evelina, either.
I wanted to be pissed that she hadn’t told me, but how could she have? I had effectively shut her out of my life after our night together, and I had left no way for her to find or contact me again. I had been the one to leave, not her. And when we met again, I had made it abundantly clear that I didn’t want attachments.
“We spoke about this,” he replied coolly.
What if I never even had the opportunity to meet Beatrice before something happened to her?
“ You spoke. You told me that you wouldn’t be involved, and I’m not asking you to. If you won’t help me keep her safe, I’ll do it myself.”
Giovanni remained silent for a moment before leaning back in his chair.
“The child is going to be in the most secure place we have, and nobody but Aria and Enzo will have access to her if that’s what most concerns you.”
“That is only a fraction of what concerns me right now, Giovanni. A fraction is putting it generously. I’m out of ideas and strategies, and waiting is doing nothing. I gave you a chance to come up with something, but I’m done waiting. I’m going to march into his fucking house and take him out.”
Giovanni nodded. “When you do that and die, who will keep Evelina safe?” he asked. “And who will be a father to your child?”
I stiffened. I had told nobody. I doubted Evelina would have either, and especially not now that someone was after her.
“How?” I asked.
“I’m no fool, Zeke. I could tell there was a history between you from the moment you barged in here the first time.”
“The woman I love is in danger, and if Clide gets his hands on her, he will do unspeakable things to her. He will brutalize her, rape her, and if she pisses him off enough, how long until he kills her? He will leave her daughter without a mother, and I will not let that happen. I only joined your payroll because I thought you would consider people and their livelihoods before fucking profit and businesses.”
He stood in an instant. “My decisions have been because of my people. If I lose my seat of power, Alonzo will take it and kill anyone who was loyal to me. He will kill hundreds, if not thousands, of people to prove a point. Then, New York will learn what it’s like to have a brutal, unforgiving mob boss in control again. Lest we forget the history of what happened during the great mob wars a few decades ago.”
Nobody could forget that. The way the capo dei capi had been power-hungry and murderous. The death incarnate. The hundreds of officers killed trying to apprehend him, and the way that only someone close to the capo dei capi had been able to end it.
If we went back, people would die. Many people.
“A quarter of my investments are tied up with Clide Newton, and if he finds me disloyal to his interests, it has the potential to turn the tide in this war against the Bianchi family and Alonzo’s tyranny. There are reasons far beyond you and I that I had to make this choice.” He exhaled. “But if you take him out without my involvement, neither Alonzo nor I will receive his support. Our combined assets will remain mine, and it will not put us in a disadvantageous position.”
I stared into the eyes of a man who had killed with his bare hands more often than even me. The difference between us was our reputations: mine of brutal, unforgiving rage and his of wisdom.
“We will be wiped off the map if Clide sees my involvement with you. We will be destroyed, and I will not risk that. Do I make myself clear?”
“I won’t get caught.”
“If you do, you’d better end yourself because I will be ensuring the safety of my family.”
I understood. He would send someone to kill me before I talked, and he wouldn’t feel an ounce of remorse for it.
I had a child now. I had a woman who cared for me and accepted me for the person I was. I didn’t want to be my father, and knowing that, I wouldn’t allow myself to become him. I couldn’t imagine a day where I would become anything like my father, even if I took after some of his tendencies.
I wouldn’t be my father.
I would keep my family safe.
* * * *
Clide Newton didn’t slack on his security and their placement.
In fact, the longer I watched his mansion in a suburb of New York City, the more meticulous all the security details seemed. There were two guards at any given entrance and exit, whether it be doors or windows. None of them appeared outwardly armed, though I didn’t doubt they packed substantial heat beneath their clothes.
There was no way into the premises.
Not even one.
I lay on the rooftop, binoculars in hand, as I watched the guards for hours, notating the rotations and the way none of them seemed at all distracted by their counterparts.
“Fuck,” I mumbled as I watched the rooftop security on various structures surrounding the house, giving themselves a bird’s eye view of the manner house.
There was only one place that the rooftop security couldn’t see—what looked like a poolside door on the back corner of the house, surrounded by decorative trees and shrubbery.
Everything banked on me getting into this house and taking out Clide Newton. It seemed like an impossible task, but if I had help, there would be a slightly higher margin of success.
Slightly.
I didn’t like the odds, but we had seen the way the man traveled, and it would be impossible to take him out on the move, especially without knowing where he planned to go or the routes he would take to get there. The only option we had, without tracking him for an extended amount of time, was to break in here.
To take him out here.
I watched as everyone rotated and moved as a unit, and I considered all my options. I considered a distraction and a discreet entrance. I considered it all. But as I watched a man in uniform leaving a “Pool and Spa” truck and walking toward the front door, a plan budded to life.
I would take care of this, even if I didn’t come out.